Mexico Seeks Charges Against Alleged Arizona Vigilantes

Mexico hired a U.S. law firm Wednesday to help gather evidence and bring charges against Arizona ranchers, charging that they illegally detained immigrants in vigilante actions.

The government decided to take action against the ranchers after a Texas man was charged with killing a Mexican immigrant on his ranch, and after a television station showed Arizona ranchers allegedly holding immigrants at gunpoint.

Mexico said it would also base its request for criminal charges on a case in which an immigrant was shot Friday by men on horseback west of Douglas, Ariz.

“There are possibilities for bringing serious charges, from illegal detention to aggravated assault,” Foreign Minister Rosario Green said at a news conference Tuesday.

Green said 32 incidents of vigilante acts had been committed against Mexican immigrants in the United States since January 1994. Of those incidents, 27 were in Arizona.

Mexico hired the Washington attorneys to investigate with a view toward suing for damages on behalf of the Mexican citizens illegally detained. Mexico was also seeking to have assault charges brought against the ranchers, the ministry said.

A report this week by KOLD-TV in Tucson showed a ranch hand detaining five men, apparently illegal immigrants, at an undisclosed location. The ranch worker was shown pushing one of the men from a seated position onto his stomach. The men were held at gunpoint until the U.S. Border Patrol arrived, station news director Carolyn Kane said.